Kodak Takes Kodachrome Away

Kodak has announced that Kodachrome Film will officially retire this year, ending a 74-year run as a photography icon. According to the company, sales of Kodachrome, which became the world’s first commercially successful color film in 1935, have declined dramatically in recent years as photographers turned to newer Kodak Films or to the digital imaging technologies that Kodak pioneered. Today, Kodachrome Film represents just a fraction of one percent of Kodak’s total sales of still-picture films. Among the well-known professional photographers who used Kodachrome Film is Steve McCurry, whose picture of a young Afghan girl captured the hearts of millions of people around the world as she peered hauntingly from the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1985 (left). As part of a tribute to Kodachrome Film, Kodak will donate the last rolls of the film to George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, NY, which houses the world’s largest collection of cameras and related artifacts. McCurry will shoot one of those last rolls and the images will be donated to Eastman House. During its run, Kodachrome Film filled a special niche in the annals of the imaging world. It was used to capture some of the best-known photographs in history, while also being the film of choice for family slide shows of the Baby Boom generation. To celebrate the film’s storied history, Kodak has created a gallery of iconic images, including the Afghan girl and other McCurry photos, as well as others from professional photographers Eric Meola and Peter Guttman on its website: www.kodak.com/go/kodachrometribute